


walk, walk, fashion baby

by chaoticspacegremlin



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Model AU, Pining, Smoking, lapslock
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2019-09-15 15:05:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16935495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticspacegremlin/pseuds/chaoticspacegremlin
Summary: wooseok is finally in town to see his best friend after 3 years but he's in for a lot more than reunions on runways,aka the model au that was birthed after witnessing shinwon absolutely slay seoul fashion week.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> its finally here!!! i've been planning and writing this since mid-october (shout out to reet and ash for listening to ramble on and on and providing some feedback i love you both so much ;~;) and i'm so excited to post it in celebration of my darling shinwon who deserves all the love in this world. 
> 
> please leave a comment if you enjoyed this and you're looking forward to the next chapter!

its 2 hours before show time and shinwon is performing his show day tradition of smoking one (1) cigarette before he heads into the venue to start hair and makeup. he abandons his phone, pinging with notifications, for a moment to inhale the nicotine because this was the only luxury he allowed himself during fashion week. sleep was reserved for shuttling between venues and for that brief window between rehearsal and crunch time, alcohol made him puffy and sex made him a little too relaxed. in fact, sex was a reward for a job well done, along with a big fat double cheeseburger from macdonalds because shinwon is a man of simple taste.

 

he gets a call just as he’s stubbing out the stick, and of course its hongseok, punctual as always. today’s song of choice is one direction’s one thing. ah, hongseok was pulling out the big guns because shinwon was 6 days deep into fashion week and it was when he started getting murderous thoughts like strangling hyojong with a hanger as he told the crowd, or tried to anyway, about his latest collection.

 

“hi baby. we’re halfway through.” honestly, the fact that his boyfriend is the sweetest man alive is so infuriating because every single time he calls before a show, it makes shinwon want to run all the way back to their apartment into his stupidly muscly strong arms except he _can’t_.

 

“shhh. this is the best part.”  

 

hongseok chuckles but he complies. when the song ends, he lets the silence ring out for a while before he says, “i love you. go kill ‘em dead. but not actually dead ok babe?”

 

and shinwon can’t stop his traitorous mouth from smiling like a fool. its a good thing not a single soul could see him as he hid near the stage door. except god. who he’s sure has better things to do anyway.

 

“love you too my favourite beefcake.”

 

there’s another chuckle, this time loud and hearty, down the line before hongseok kisses the phone and hangs up, leaving shinwon more lightheaded than his cigarettes could ever get him.

 

xxx

 

wooseok is late. he’s weaving in and out of the crowd of people, taking bigger steps than the average person thanks to his long nosferatu legs god decided to bless him with, but its still slow going. and the people were so rude, shoving him out of the way despite his endless stream of “excuse me”s and “pardon me”s. the thought of shinwon actually murdering him is his sole incentive to not give up. he is not used to bustling cities at all.

 

he finally makes it to the building with 5 minutes to spare, and its definitely cutting it too close for comfort if the door person's expression is anything to go by. their frown is comically ironed out when they see that wooseok jung is listed as shinwon ko’s guest, and wooseok experiences that cheap sour thrill of watching somebody realise that they have to be nice to you. he gets in smoothly after that, finds his name on a seat on the first row. after giving everyone behind him an apologetic half bow, he sits down and tries his best to be less tall.

 

the seat on his right, labelled hongseok yang, is still empty and wooseok feels ashamedly relieved. hongseok was so bloody nice it made wooseok’s awkward tendencies multiply tenfold without shinwon around to laugh and make fun of him. on wooseok’s left however, is a man whose height would not have been out of place, if he wasn’t sat next to the beanstalk from james and the giant beanstalk (aka wooseok). the man pays no attention to his seatmate, choosing instead to survey the rest of the audience, but somehow wooseok can sense that he’s being assessed and he shifts uncomfortably.

 

the lights are already dimming when hongseok smoothly slides into his seat with a charming smile and nod to wooseok as his greeting. a disembodied voice thanks the audience for being here, thanks the sponsors, and announces that they are about to witness kim hyojong’s latest collection.

 

shinwon’s not opening this show, but he’s near the end, second to last in fact before hyuna. wooseok recognises a few number of faces on the runway though. there’s yanan, statuesque beauty with a face that could knock people dead. there’s hui, who’s always shirtless when he’s walking for his best friend’s shows, lips pouty as if he hates this fact (he doesn’t). and there’s yuto, decked out in black, complete with black lipstick, but wooseok knows that the japanese boy giggles like a schoolgirl very frequently and its honestly fucking adorable.

 

the music, produced by hyojong and hui, is reaching a fevered crescendo when shinwon finally steps out onto the runway. and it sounds so fucking cliche, but wooseok’s heart skips a beat. but that’s normal right, when one hasn’t seen their best friend in 3 whole years? yeah, that’s definitely normal, wooseok convinces himself.

 

clad in a simple two piece outfit, a loud print, with eyes gazing hard even through all the smokey makeup he had, shinwon looked like he was meant to be there. like he had been born solely to strut along this runway, presenting hyojong’s designs to the rest of the world. like he couldn’t be anywhere else.

 

hongseok’s got his phone out even before shinwon steps onto runway, calmly filming his boyfriend with a proud little smile on his face. not only does it make wooseok feel like he’s intruding, despite the fact that at least a hundred other people are watching shinwon walk, it also makes wooseok a bit ashamed that he’s scrambling hurriedly for his own phone. he pushes the thoughts aside as firmly as he can. he’s here to support shinwon, by taking a video and then editing something stupid over it, and that’s exactly what he’s going to do.

 

xxx

 

shinwon holds out the piece of avocado toast. “come on seokie take a bite.”

 

wooseok eyes him suspiciously. he wouldn’t put it past his best friend to shove it straight into his mouth to choke him. but shinwon seems willing to actually feed him, blinking at him innocently. so wooseok inches closer, and bites down…. on air. because of course, shinwon whisks it away at the last second. what an ass.

 

he lets out an exasperated sound as shinwon cackles mercilessly and takes a sip of his orange juice instead. “okay sorry sorry for real this time.” not wanting to take any chances, wooseok grabs his wrist as he takes a satisfyingly big bite of the toast and munches on it sullenly, noting grudgingly that it did taste delicious, as he glares shinwon down. he doesn’t miss the way shinwon’s face softens almost imperceptibly, his gaze darting to wooseok’s mouth as it opens wide for the bite.

 

“what the hell are you guys doing? is this some weird best friend ritual?”

 

hyojong’s voice startles the both of them out of their reverie and shinwon wrenches his hand away, as if he had been burned, but quickly covers up by shoving the rest of the toast in his mouth. wooseok decides to store this information away for later before beaming at hyojong, mouth still chewing, “hi.”

 

hyojong looks unperturbed by the open mouth chewing, rolling his eyes as he takes a seat and grabs a scone, while hwitaek looks mildly disgusted.

 

“so wooseok. mind telling me why jo jinho has requested for some of my new clothes that can fit someone with 90 cm legs?”

 

the toast gets stuck in his windpipe and he’s choking, scrabbling for the water to take a big gulp. only hui looks alarmed but wooseok could hardly bother as he coughs repeatedly to clear his throat and wheeze, “what are you talking about?”

 

“yeah. joji wants to shoot you. i didn’t know you guys knew each other.”

 

“i don’t, we don’t um. we only met at your show?”

 

“well, clearly you impressed him. what’d you do?”

 

“um, i’d tell you if i actually knew…”

 

truth be told, whatever happened after the show ended was mostly a blur to wooseok. he’d enveloped shinwon in a firm hug and even picked him up and spun him around for good measure, (“wooseok what the fuck put me down you ass how did you get so AHHHHHHHHH”), earning himself a good thwack on the side of his head for his pains. after that he had stepped aside for hongseok, only a little guilty for greeting shinwon first. shinwon plants a big wet kiss on hongseok’s lips and wooseok’s eyes widen so fast he has to look away in hopes the couple wouldn’t notice.

 

from where shinwon and wooseok were from, public displays of affection were limited to hand holding and chaste pecks on the cheek, and even those were only meant for heterosexual couples only. seeing shinwon openly and happily kiss his boyfriend was.... an experience for sure. no wonder his best friend was immediately so much happier after he moved. the two of them talked about it, sure, but this was final definitive proof that shinwon truly considered someplace else home now. there's a strange tugging in his heart at that thought but wooseok ignores it as usual.

 

they get a lot less gross after that though, shinwon pulling him back in and apologising, “sorry wooseok its been a really long day but yah, we're not one of those disgusting pda couples okay??”

 

“yeah sure hyung, say that when you don’t have your tongue down your boyfriend’s throat," he snickers as he neatly sidesteps shinwon’s next attack.

 

“when was the last time we were all together like this? i missed you so much wooseok-ah,” the smile on shinwon’s face is pure fondness as he holds hongseok’s hand with his left and wooseok’s hand with his right.

 

“aww you really are super tired huh babe? getting all mushy already?” see, the teasing would have been more effective if hongseok didn’t take the opportunity to lace their fingers together as he said it.

 

wooseok is a bit out of his depth. the last time was a few months back, when hongseok had come home early from work while shinwon was skyping wooseok, distracting him from studying. hongseok had been honestly super easy to talk to, even with wooseok’s chronic shyness. after that, it had mostly been sparse interactions on twitter and instagram as wooseok clowned shinwon relentlessly, and hongseok joined in the fun.

 

he knows what always helps in situations like this though. alcohol. so he swiftly twists out of shinwon’s hand hold and says, “i’m gonna help myself to the champagne okay? as a broke graduate, i gotta take full advantage. you two want a glass?”

 

“nope, no alcohol for me until all this over. do you want one babe?”

 

“yeah sure, why not. thanks wooseok.”

 

“okay, got it!”

 

wooseok winds through the crowd, catching snippets of conversation about people he does not know doing all kinds of things somehow worth talking about. its the only thing so far on this trip that reminds him of home and that makes him smile wryly to himself, forgetting for a moment to account for what’s in front of him instead of looking down, and crashes straight into someone. someone already holding a glass of champagne.

 

and of course as fate would have it, that someone was his former seatmate. he barely reaches wooseok’s shoulder, a fact made more obvious when they’re standing, but the glare he sends up at wooseok is enough to make him feel ten times smaller. seeing wooseok open his mouth to apologise, he holds up a hand.

 

“please don’t. you probably don’t even have an inkling of how much this suit costs, so i’d rather not hear you try to offer to pay for it.”

 

there isn’t even time for wooseok to do anything before short guy stalks away. there’s blood pounding in his ears and he feels lightheaded, fingers tingling like they want to curl into a fist and throw a punch. god. now he really needs a fucking drink.

 

he finds his way back to shinwon and hongseok, gulping down the champagne faster than he should. shinwon takes one look at his face and asks, “alright, what happened?”

 

wooseok is reluctant, doesn’t want to ruin their first night together again but its just so nice to be able to talk to his best friend face to face after what feels like forever. he spills, feeling indignant about the blatant rudeness he did not deserve.

 

“and like, the worst part was he’s some fucking short guy okay, he can’t even reach my face if he tried!”

 

“wait, hold on. was he sat next to you during the show?”

 

dread feels like ice in his veins. or maybe that was just the champagne. “ah fuck. that must’ve been jo jinho. probably the biggest, hah, photographer we have here.”

 

“... well, fuck me then.” and he drains his glass in one.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a scene with mild sexual content ahead. i tried to be as implicit as possible, but please let me know if i should raise the rating.

its 10 am and jinho is scrolling through instagram as he sips on his coffee, silently scrutinizing everyone who turned up for hyojong’s launch. this season’s collection had a lot more lace and nipples than usual. he had told jinho that the inspiration was simply “retro sexy music”. whatever that means. he pauses, not for the first time, at the picture of ko shinwon, posing with yang hongseok and an unfamiliar face. this last person was hunched over, conscious of his height, but his soft features are still undoubtedly very pretty.

 

jinho recognizes him of course. naive rookie who must’ve thought spilling champagne would get him noticed. although it was kind of odd that he didn’t go straight into fawning and touching jinho unneccesarily like all the others do. in fact, he looked positively terrified. and jinho, against his better judgement, found that.... attractive.

 

pressing a button on his desk phone, he pages for his assistant. “get me hyojong on the line.”

 

xxx

 

wooseok hasn’t slept properly for the past week. every single incoming phone call has him jumping out of his skin and its even got shinwon rattled. though that might be because wooseok has dropped at least one of shinwon’s mugs due to his anxiousness.

 

this jo jinho guy… what could he possibly want from wooseok aside from revenge? over a damned suit too, how petty. he clearly looks like he could afford a lot more of those. why bother trying to shoot a nobody?

 

shinwon’s theory is that he’s simply never seen a lanky green haired loser before and is compelled by his heavenly muse (“or whatever deity he prays respect to, you know how artists are”) to photograph him for posterity’s sake. wooseok had to remind himself that he couldn’t beat up his best friend if he wanted to keep getting free meals.

 

still, he had no way to alleviate his fears. shinwon had only worked with him years before, and it was for a spread with many other models so he had never really talked to jinho beyond the usual exchange of pleasantries at events. hyojong was unable to offer anything more either, though he did squint at wooseok’s legs for a disconcertingly long time.

 

and so wooseok’s first week in the city passed by in a flurry of checking out museums and eating brunch more than any other meal and snapping lots and lots of photos while trying his best not to think of being in front of the camera.

 

xxx

 

“oh my god. i thought he would never leave!”

 

“hey, that’s not very nice babe.” hongseok gives shinwon one of his best “play nice” faces, which shinwon ignores in favour of throwing up his hands.

 

“listen, i fucking love seok with all of my heart but he does not know how to take a bloody hint. its the hair dye i bet. killed all his braincells, poor child.” he shakes his head solemnly.

 

hongseok takes his hands and places them around his neck instead, voice dropping lower to say, “alright well he left so…”

 

shinwon lets hongseok’s hands wander slowly down his sides, all the way until they grip his ass tightly and then he just can’t resist. “wow, way to be subtle huh mr yang?”

 

the sigh hongseok lets out is noisy, the long suffering kind.

 

“for the last time shinwon, i’d really rather not hear my father’s name when i’m trying to get in my boyfriend’s pants.”

 

shinwon plays along then, because hongseok shuts him up with his mouth (and what a sweet, sweet mouth he had) and its blissful making out blatantly in his living room for the first time in a while without having to worry that wooseok would walk in. also, when hongseok bites his neck, shinwon wants to say “omg please marry me” but he suppresses it and it comes out as a strained, “would you rather i call you daddy?” instead.

 

the only response he gets is a low growl, before he’s picked up and thrown bodily onto the couch and _oh_ , he definitely enjoyed that more than he would ever care to admit.

 

“last warning shinwon.”

 

his brain is honestly screaming to _listen to hongseok you idiot_ but shinwon is not one to heed instructions. so he smiles coyly as he sits up, quickly removing his tshirt and boxers. then he stares straight into his boyfriend's eyes, taking a moment to smugly appreciate the glazed look on hongseok’s handsome face, and whispers, “please fuck me _daddy._ ”

 

its only when his face is pressed against the couch, as hongseok's fingers are digging into hips and he's doing that precise thing that leaves shinwon’s mind floating and only able to focus solely on the feeling of being filled and the smell of cologne in his nose. it smells amazingly addictive, smells like one of his favourite people in the world, smells like... wooseok? but why is he thinking of wooseok when its hongseok, his boyfriend, that is making him feel fucking good?

 

its at that very moment however, that hongseok crowds into his space, kisses him deeply before shifting _just so,_ which tips shinwon's mind over to blinding pleasure, and so the temporary confusion is lost.

 

xxx

 

all this time, wooseok had been freaking out about a call, he forgot to worry about _instagram dms_. he stares at his phone, as if he could communicate with the fbi officer living inside to tell him to delete this dm, so he could go on living his life blissfully ignorant of the fact that jo jinho had contacted him.

 

“good day wooseok. apologies for contacting you on this platform but, unfortunately you did not leave your management information on your profile.

 

the studio of jo jinho is pleased to extend the opportunity to discuss an exclusive solo photoshoot to be included in next month’s edition of magazineho. please send an email magazineho@gmail.com with your reply, thank you.”

 

he’d checked and double checked and triple checked. the tiny blue tick next to the username magazinehostudio had not disappeared. with reality sinking in, also came a surge of adrenaline that slid down wooseok’s back. maybe it was the thought of having money to spend, money that could keep him here instead of going home.

 

maybe it was also jo jinho. no, scratch that it was most definitely the fact that _jo jinho_ was offering him an opportunity. wooseok had done his research (googled him and stalked him for hours). jo jinho, despite being a famous photographer and editor, was fucking hot himself. in almost every press photo he appeared in, he never smiled yet he looked like sin itself.

 

wooseok would never admit that fact to anyone though. not even to himself. that’s why he’s telling himself he wants to hear about the money. and that’s also what he’s telling shinwon.

 

“i’m not gonna lie seokie. its kinda shady. has he been in the scene so long he’s forgotten that not everyone is a model?”

 

“come on hyung that’s not fair. weren’t you scouted on the street?”

 

shinwon’s face scrunches up. “its not the same. you know i was actively looking to be signed.”

 

“right okay, sorry. that was a bad example.”

 

“its fine. i was lucky.” shinwon takes a gulp of water. “how old is he anyway?”

 

“he’s 27.”

 

“huh. he does not look 27. that’s a bit disturbing though, you’re only 21.”

 

“what does my age have to do with anything?” wooseok did not expect his voice to come out raised but there it was.

 

“alright sorry i asked about age. just, listen. right now i already don’t trust him. i hate that i don’t know enough about him so i can’t help you. but what i do know, is that he doesn’t have a lot of friends. and the way he treated you, like you were garbage. that’s never a good sign.”  

 

“that’s all very valid hyung, i really do hear you,” wooseok begins earnestly, ”but look, there’s no way jinho can force me to say yes. maybe he’ll make me pay for the suit after all, the asshole. but i won’t be so stupid as to sign anything without reading. i just want to meet the guy first. see what he has to say.”

 

there’s a long pregnant pause in which wooseok stares into shinwon’s face and it’s unreadable.

 

“okay.”

 

“okay?”

 

“you should go ahead and do what you think is best. you’re an adult now.”

 

shinwon watches wooseok go with a heavy heart. he can’t make decisions for the younger but he wishes that wooseok would listen. like he used to do, face upturned adoringly towards his hyung. but that was before his growth spurt kicked in and he stopped listening to a lot of things in order to keep going.

 

he’d even considered physically barring wooseok from leaving his apartment. these past few days with hongseok gone for filming had made shinwon realise just how touchy he had become with a boyfriend. he found himself leaning his head against wooseok’s back as he made coffee. he’d absent-mindedly run his hand through the green crop of hair as he walked to the bathroom. the other night they had watched a movie and shinwon had shifted into wooseok’s lap when he needed to stretch his back.

 

but wooseok was his best friend, his oldest friend. there was nothing wrong with touching him. except everything felt riddled with holes, a niggling feeling that shinwon could not shake off. so he shook wooseok off instead, as good as pushed him towards making a bad decision at the hands of jo jinho so in some twisted way, shinwon wouldn’t feel like the only one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we meet jinho! and we see a bit (too much?) of shinwon. i hope you enjoyed this update because it was very difficult to write (":
> 
> please leave comments if you enjoyed it! come yell at me on twitter if you want: @largeboiyuto


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jinho and wooseok finally meet again. shinwon misses hongseok.

“its cold as balls here. i might return without an ear or several fingers. ugh, really should’ve packed my thicker stuff...”

 

“HAH i told you but you didn’t want to listen. being right feels nice. and warm.”

 

“now that’s just cruel shinwon.” hongseok’s face scrunches up in a pout, and shinwon thinks that’s far more cruel, because they’re a thousand miles apart and he has to settle for taking a screenshot instead of kissing the pout away.

 

“m’sorry,” shinwon shifts from his side of the bed to hongseok’s, props his phone on the pillow, a poor imitation of actually being in bed together. he avoids eye contact as he continues, “its just. its cold too here, without you. like, i need to go to the gym without you and work out with no motivation whatsoever.”

 

“hey. look at me baby.” shinwon fidgets even more. he doesn’t do well with saying how he really feels, even now, after 3 years filled with weeks at a time of long distance.

 

“shinwon please.” he finally lifts his eyes, and hongseok has this earnest look on his face, the look he gets when he wants to say something important. “i miss you too. it’s only going to be a few more days then i’ll be back. i’m gonna cook something nice for you and hold your tiny cold hands.”

 

not saying how he feels is hard but so is listening to all these sweet things. hongseok knows this though, knows to go on and say, “if you want, i could give you some motivation to go to the gym...” and suddenly the phone is panning down to his bare chest.

 

“that’s not motivation. that’s an invitation for phone sex.”

 

“i mean, that’s still a workout though?”

 

“... i’m hanging up.”

 

 xxx

 

jo jinho’s office smells expensive. that’s wooseok’s first overwhelming observation, its one of those buildings that have a specially made scent filtered through the airconditioning. he’s pretty sure that’s a fact he remembered from a class trip to an office, to entice the students to join the corporate world and do corporate things, whatever that means. wooseok never really paid attention. its cold too, and wooseok’s jacket is not as thick as he’d like it to be. he starts jiggling his leg.

 

its been about 5 minutes before someone walks into the room, and its not the lady who showed him in, pronounced his name with an unforgiving american accent that made him wince internally. this someone has a lot of purple on him, and he’s carrying a bunch of stuff in his arms as he sends a slew of rapid fire texts, all the while muttering under his breath.

 

its only when he’s sat down across wooseok, giant meeting table in between them, that he stops, puts his phone down and everything he’s carrying to smile at wooseok.

 

“good morning jung wooseok. thanks for taking the time to come down today. we’ll be doing the usual stuff, make a copy of your portfolio and then headshots. i have your contract with me and we can go through that in a bit. any questions?”

 

his smile definitely softened his face, plumped up his otherwise small and sharp face framed by purple silver hair.

 

“uh.” wow wooseok, way to be eloquent. “what’s your name?”

 

“oh sorry i didn’t introduce myself.” there was a hint of incredulity underneath that pleasant smile. “i’m jo jinho’s secretary, kino.”

 

“ah, nice to meet you kino.” wooseok could feel himself fidgeting under the intense gaze. he thought longingly of his bed at home, which was safe from professionally cute assistants. he didn’t really need a job did he…

 

“alright, let’s take a look at your portfolio shall we?”

 

“yeah um. small problem.” wooseok chewed his lip, tried to think of how to say it. except there was really no other way. “i don’t have a portfolio.”

 

“excuse me?” yeah the incredulity was definitely full blown now.

 

“i don’t have a portfolio. i told jinho earlier, i’m just a friend of shinwon.” he shrugged, in an attempt to appear nonchalant.

 

to his credit, kino didn’t immediately ask him to leave. he riffles through the contract with a frown on his face before he reaches for his phone and starts sending more texts. not even a minute later, the phone rings. he stands to take the call, leaving the room with a curt nod to wooseok.

 

left alone again, he exhales slowly, allowing his fingers to uncurl from where they had been pressed inbetween his thighs. he checks his phone, contemplates texting shinwon. they haven’t had a proper conversation since the last heated discussion.

 

wooseok knows shinwon is feeling the effects of being apart from hongseok, can see that he craves wooseok’s companionship even if he would rather die than admit it. but wooseok is nothing if not as stubborn and even more petty, and he feels a bit of vindication watching shinwon suffer. his hyung used to berate him for being too attached to people but he had become one of those he scoffed at.

 

lost in thought, wooseok misses kino opening the door but he snaps up his head in time to see jinho stride in. he’s dressed more casually today, in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, but he still looks devastatingly handsome, even if his expression was carefully schooled into one of passiveness. he pauses in front of wooseok and extends a hand.

 

wooseok has no choice but to scramble out of his chair, dropping his rucksack in the process. he blushes furiously, embarrassed to be fumbling in front of this man once again. jinho merely raises an eyebrow but makes no comment, opting instead to shake the proffered hand firmly before taking a seat.

 

“jung wooseok. pleasure to meet you officially.” he inclined his head briefly. “what’s this i hear about you not having a portfolio?” at this question, he smiles, looking straight into wooseok’s eyes.

 

he avoids the eye contact, glancing instead at kino who has taken the seat next to jinho. kino has a small crease inbetween his eyebrows but he nods reassuringly at wooseok.

 

“well. its just as i told kino just now. i don’t have one.”

 

“hmm. who’s your manager?”

 

“i don’t have one.”

 

“are you with shinwon’s agency?”

 

“no?”

 

“this is strange. how were you expecting to get hired then?”

 

“i don’t know, you contacted me first?”

 

jinho leans back in his chair. the way he’s straight up scrutinizing wooseok is unnerving. he looks down at his hands twisting in his lap, choosing to ignore the sympathetic looks kino shoots him. once again he wishes he had bailed, money be damned.

 

“kino. get me my camera from my office.”

 

“sorry?” “huh?” both the assistant and the green haired boy snapped their heads to jinho, eyes wide.

 

jinho merely repeats calmly, “get me my camera from my office.”

 

“i think my question here is why.”

 

“i want to shoot mr jung wooseok here and give him a portfolio. why is that so hard to understand?” the calm is now laced with steel and kino, finding nothing to say to his boss, stands and exits the office.

 

he’s still watching wooseok quietly, as if waiting to ask a question, and as the minutes tick by, wooseok grows steadily more tense. he didn’t think it was remotely possible. he was going to snap like a rubber band soon.

 

“may i ask what was behind the decision to dye your hair that particular shade of green?”

 

okay… that was not the question he was expecting. but he would take it.

 

“uh well. i lost a bet and it was either kiss a frog or dye my hair the colour of a frog.”

 

jinho looks like he’s about to call bullshit, but then he starts giggling, eyes crinkling into crescent moons and before wooseok knows it, he’s thrown his head back to laugh. loudly.

 

“you actually chose to dye your hair over kissing a frog? you’re mad.” the jibe is friendly, no condescension at all.

 

“oh yeah? would you have done it?” huh that was brave, wooseok thinks, feels his cheeks warm a little again.

 

“you know what they say, when you kiss a frog, you’ll get a prince right?”

jinho is smiling and they’re making eye contact and wooseok’s brain is now going up in flames because the older man was smiling at him, all the harsh lines giving way to an angelic face and oh my god, was jo jinho flirting with him?

 

xxx

 

shinwon hums as he picks out a single sunflower. hongseok will complain that he’ll be the one keeping it alive but shinwon knows he adores having flowers in their apartment every once in a while. right now he’d even be grateful for the older’s grumbling about how he always gets out of cleaning by promising blowjobs (in his defense, watching a sweaty and shirtless hongseok is hard work too). anything to get out of this weird funk he’s fallen into, where he can’t even look at his best friend without feeling confused and angry.

 

shinwon’s early for once. he had jumped out of bed at 10 am to go workout, had rushed home after instead of dawdling to talk to yuto at the juice shop downstairs. now he clutches the sunflower, thinking about how he can grab some lunch, then make an unhurried commute to the airport. hongseok should be boarding right about now. and as if he had called out loud, his phone rings.

 

“hey handsome, i was just thinking about you. i managed to reschedule my fitting, so i can come pick you up at the airport. you’re coming out at gate 10 right?”

 

“shinwon? babe? slow down. i have to tell you something.”

 

oh no. shinwon knows that voice. feels his heart sinking already. braces himself for it. he clutches the sunflower a little tighter.

 

“yeah?”

 

“okay so. i just met jung ilhoon in transit and of course, i asked him what he’s working on. and babe. him and the rest of the guys from BTOB are working on a _movie._ and he told me that he wants me to audition! his casting manager is here... its too good an opportunity to pass up.”

 

“so… you’re not coming home?”

 

“its only for another week or so. i’m sorry, i know i promised... but you know how important this is for me right?”

 

“i do hongseok, i’m happy for you but. why couldn’t you have told me earlier?”

 

“because it just happened its not like i was expecting this? i don’t want to stay here another day, its still fucking cold and i fucking miss you but i have to do this. i can’t not do it.”

 

“okay. you go and do it. i’ll see you when you come back.”

 

“babe… are you mad at me?”

 

“no i just need time to process that i’m not going to see my boyfriend for another week. i’m grateful that he’s gotten the fantastic opportunity he’s been waiting for… i just need some time to process this alright? please hongseok.”

 

there’s a sigh, one that spelled defeat. “alright take your time. i love you shinwon.”

 

“love you too. bye.”   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its me, 3 months later with no explanation beyond "idk what i'm doing with this story." hdbcjhbcjshd i just want to write about these boys i love. please leave comments if you're reading this. thank you to that one person who gave a kudos about 8 hours ago because you are the only reason this chapter got posted.


	4. Chapter 4

“and here we have a wild shinwon in his natural habitat, watching compilations of his runway walks on youtube,” lee hwitaek, professional model and occasional vlogger descended on shinwon, wearing a white bathrobe and probably not much else under. how the elder had found shinwon, as he lay on a secluded mattress away from the chaos waiting for his turn to be called, was a mystery but hui had his ways about the studio.

 

shinwon turns an unamused face to the camera as hui climbs on top of him and starts smooching his face with zero regard, “for the record i’m only looking at my runway pictures, not video compilations.”

 

hui, in an attempt to deafen shinwon surely, lets out a peal of laughter right next to his ear, “what’s got your underwear in a knot hmm shinwonnie?”

 

“bold of you to assume i’m wearing underwear.”

 

“yah you can’t just tease me and my followers like that…” hui trails off suggestively, while leisurely panning the camera down shinwon’s body.

 

shinwon screeches, “lee hwitaek you pervert!”, and smacks the camera away but hui just laughs harder, clutching onto shinwon to make sure he doesn’t roll off and expose himself instead. he switches off the camera then, and they lie there for a bit, listening as the staff and other models bustle around them.

 

“hey, are you sure you’re alright shinwon?”

 

“i’m… no, not really? i don’t know.”

 

“are you doing anything after this shoot?”

 

“no why?”

 

“great, let’s go get drinks. its been forever since we last hung out. i’ll text dawnie. pretty sure yanan and yuto are around here somewhere too. we can talk about your boy troubles or, we can just get wasted. your call.”

 

“that actually sounds pretty fun,” shinwon admitted half-heartedly. “let’s do it.”

 

“yay! okay go do your thing, i’ll see you in a couple of hours.” with a final gentle smooch, hui heaves himself up off shinwon and prances away. and right on cue, someone calls for “shinwon ko!” and its time to push aside all the thoughts of absent boyfriends and best friends and get to work instead.

 

xxx

 

wooseok has never had photos of him taken by a professional photographer. unless you counted picture day at school... but those photographers were never attractive and talented young men whose gaze made wooseok sweat a little even with the AC on at full blast.

 

jinho clearly knows what he’s doing, if his clear but gentle directions are anything to go by. he gets wooseok to look straight at the camera, tilt his head every which way, standing and sitting and leaning against the wall. and every few shots, he lets out this hum of approval that does nothing to help the nervous sweating. in fact, without really realising it, wooseok finds himself trying his best to keep the hums coming more frequently, by opening his eyes bigger and pouting just a fraction more.

 

its been a while since doing something came so naturally, and gave such instant gratification.

 

all too soon, jinho lowers his camera and says, “we’re done. good job wooseok.” the sudden burst of pride leaves wooseok giddy, and all he can do is nod wordlessly, running a hand through his cropped hair, feeling shy as if he didn’t just pose for at least 3 dozen photos. he’s spared the stress of saying anything though as jinho leaves immediately for a meeting. a meeting which he’s over 20 minutes late for too. kino’s whisper is a tad too loud.

 

kino goes through the contract after that and wooseok tries harder than he usually does to listen but the high is still trickling through his veins. he can still hear the hums. so he’s super relieved when kino takes pity on him and lets him go quickly, with the agreement that he’ll be back within a week to return the signed contract. or not. he shouldn’t jump straight into it, right?

 

its only when he’s out of the building, back on the sidewalk of the city whose humidity reminds him that he is alive and _sweating_ , that he takes a deep breath and pulls out his phone to call the first person he can think of.

 

“hey.”

 

“hello? seokie? what’s up?” wooseok lets out the breath he was holding onto. in the background of the call he can hear people shouting excitedly, laughing raucously and the unmistakable clinking of glasses.

 

“um. are you busy?”

 

“i’m getting drinks with my friends. hui and hyojong are here. dyou wanna join us?”

 

wooseok weighs his options. he really wants to talk to his best friend but he also would not be opposed to getting drunk off his face so he can forget about everything that just happened. 

 

“sure why not?”

 

xxx

 

the bar is a comfortable type of full for a thursday night and shinwon’s already feeling the pleasant warmth of 2 whiskey cokes. he’s pressed up in between yanan and hui, the latter giggling incessantly at hyojong, who’s in the middle of a thrilling tale involving his plants that’s making yuto’s eyes get bigger and bigger. the smell of yanan’s tequila as he lifts his glass distracts shinwon for a moment, and he wrinkles his nose to sneeze, missing hyojong’s climax and wooseok’s arrival. misses the way wooseok’s eyes trace over hui practically plastered to his side.

 

when shinwon notices wooseok, he’s already clutching a bottle of beer and he’s smiling. not nervously, like he always is around shinwon’s friends but cheerful and relaxed. shinwon can’t help but wonder if he had started drinking before he even stepped into the bar. 

 

the rest welcome him with loud cheers and amidst everyone clamoring to hear about his day, he seats himself next to yuto, who smiles prettily around his vodka cranberry.

 

“so… guess what i did today guys.”

 

“is this a trick question? did you do someone instead of something?”

 

“play overwatch??”

 

“not a trick question, and yes i did play overwatch today like every other day in my life but also. i met jo motherfucking jinho.”

 

the collective “ooooh” was so loud, everyone in earshot swiveled their heads but only hui and yuto felt the need to apologise. 

 

“so… how was tiny devil man?” hyojong asked, with an almost indecent amount of curiosity.

 

“he was alright. less horrible than he was at the party for sure. he actually was pretty nice to me? i had no idea what i was doing there honestly but he explained everything. and he even offered to take my headshots!”

 

this time, there was no collective gasp but everyone’s faces were in varying states of shock. shinwon takes a huge gulp of his whiskey coke, feels it slide down his throat.

 

“no fucking way. jo jinho took your headshots? what the hell did you promise him?”

 

wooseok immediately turns red. “is that not… a normal thing? shit. he didn’t ask me for anything though? he just offered?”

 

yanan leans back in his seat. “damn wooseok. jinho must be desperate to hire you. but i don’t mean to scare you alright! jinho has a great eye, no one can contest that. congrats baby, its so exciting to have you join us!”

 

“yeah i wouldn’t read too much into it honestly. jinho has a bunch of good models that he hires under his own company, and they’re all doing pretty well. who needs to hire photographers when you’re the best already right?”

 

hui’s voice of reason calms everyone down and they all raise a toast for wooseok.

 

after buying a round for everybody, pressing another beer bottle into wooseok’s hands as he congratulates him, shinwon moves outside. he needs a smoke.

 

he lights up and takes a long drag, watching the river pass him by, dark and unforgiving. hearing a cough beside him he absently minded holds out his pack, not bothering to check because he was sure hui had followed him out. its only when he hears a laugh does he turn, coming face to face with hyojong.

 

“oh hey. thought you were-”

 

“hui? nah. i keep hearing that he looks more and more like me each day though.” the blonde has a thoughtful look on his face.

 

“that’s cause he keeps wearing your clothes you idiot.”

 

“hey hey, who are you calling an idiot huh.... says the guy who can’t even look at his so-called best friend as he gushes about some other dude with fuckin stars in his eyes.”

 

shinwon chokes on the drag he’d been pulling in.

 

“what the fuck are you saying hyojong? you can’t be drunk already…”

 

“oh please. spare me the pain of watching you in denial. you’ve got some weird unresolved shit there that you need to deal with.”

 

if it was anyone else shinwon would have thrown his drink in the person’s face and told them to fuck off. but it was hyojong. hyojong who was his first friend he had met here, a few years ago, when he was still too afraid to look anyone in the eye. hyojong who didn’t know how to lie even if he tried his damned best.

 

so shinwon doesn’t throw his drink. instead he stares at the dregs and whispers, “how am i supposed to deal with it?”

 

“talk to him.”

 

ah, the answer he already knows but doesn’t want to admit. the glass is tipped brazenly into his open mouth and emptied in seconds. the cigarette smoke continues swirling into the night air that’s turned lighter, cooler with the waning of the moon.

 

inside, wooseok finds himself face to face with hui, who’s studying his face a little too intently. all the younger can do is keep sipping his drink steadily, as he pays attention to yuto’s soft retelling of his first few shoots. both him and yanan have readily agreed to tell him all that they know, having once been painfully new themselves in this strange loud city. wooseok is terribly grateful, knows he doesn’t deserve all this good luck that seems to have fallen straight into his lap when all he had come for was to visit his best friend.

 

his best friend who had invited him out for a night of drinking but had promptly disappeared once he actually saw wooseok. the younger isn’t even sure shinwon heard his news about jo jinho honestly. he had seemed more interested in his whiskey.

 

hui is still watching him fidget. the temptation of just going “what?” out loud is getting stronger by the minute. hui beats him to it. 

 

“what’s up with you and shinwon?”

 

“uh… nothing? is there something up i don’t know about?”

 

the concerned look on the older’s face only serves to agitate wooseok further. because the fact that hui knew something was wrong… that could only mean that shinwon had confided in the older man right? it leaves off a bitter taste in wooseok’s mouth, more bitter than this stupid beer he’s been drinking all night. 

 

“well-”

 

as fate would have it, shinwon and hyojong stroll back to the table at the same moment hui was poised to say something to wooseok. hyojong is beaming widely and the source of his glee is made apparent when a server comes round, holding a tray aloft.

 

“jager bombs on me!”

 

everyone eyes the shot glasses with trepidation, and its only with a loud huff from hyojong that they reach out to take one each. glasses are raised and hyojong looks straight at wooseok as he raises a toast. wooseok summons up the last of his energy to give a big smile, before knocking the shot back.

 

everyone drinks noisily, except shinwon who’s fucking sipping the shot. his distate for jagermeister is known in the group but usually goes ignored. wooseok all but snatches it out of his hand.

 

“don’t waste it man, come on. it was hyojong’s treat.”

 

shinwon only stares at him dumbly, still processing what happened. by the time he tries to protest, the drink has disappeared. he can only watch in horror and a little bit of awe as wooseok gallantly helps drink yuto’s shot as well.

 

the shots don’t quite hit until they’ve all parted ways, with many hugs and congratulations and promises to have another night out soon. shinwon pointedly avoids eye contact with hyojong but it goes unnoticed by the rest. its only in the cab, silent and cold, that wooseok’s stomach rolls threateningly and his hand instinctively shoot ing out to clutch shinwon’s. sweat is starting to bead at his forehead. 

 

there’s so much trepidation when the older whispers, “seokie? you ok?”

 

“nnnuh....”

 

after some rummaging, shinwon pulls out his water bottle from his tote bag, some water still sloshing inside. he moves closer across the back seat, waits for the cab to stop before he carefully tips water inside wooseok’s mouth.

 

“you didn’t drink any earlier did you, you fool. why in the world did you drink 3 jager bombs. fucking hell.”

 

wooseok whines pitifully, clammy hand still holding on tight.

 

“mmm alcohol is expensive here.”

 

“its not even your money.”

 

“still… is rude you know. people spendin on ya… feels rude to not drink it.”

 

“okay you kind dumbass. you don’t always have to do what someone else says.”

 

“i know that… but i just wanna be good you know? wanna be good like you.”

 

shinwon flushes in the darkness of the cab, illuminated only by the passing street lamps. “you’re starting to talk nonsense.”

 

“am not… i mean it. you did so well for yourself shinwonnie. proud of you.”

 

“okay. thank you.”

 

“hmm… you’re welcome…”

 

the cab continues speeding along the highway. shinwon doesn't shake off wooseok's hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi its me. i wrote this chapter a month ago and finally came back to reread it and realised i'm pretty happy with it. so here it goes out into the world. i really love shinwon and want him to be happy but he gotta deal with shit first. also i miss hongseok wtf,,, he's coming back soon. leave a comment if you liked it please and thank you it gives me energy to continue being a Functioning Being


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